It seems to me like the swimsuit situation has gotten a bit out of hand. Prices are high; LZRs are unavailable; swimskins are legal for USMS pool meets... the list continues.
With the fabrics, I think we can all agree neoprene should remain illegal for pool meets. But beyond that, who's to say what is and what isn't? It will be tough with all the new technology, and as we're seeing today with Speedo and BlueSeventy being FINA sponsors, it will be tough to knock the gift horse in the mouth.
Most of these new suits are body suits. Why not try to limit the effect a suit has on a performance by limiting the amount of suit that can affect performance? It is a stretch to get back to "briefs" and "recordbreakers," as already, women have a fabric advantage. But why not put a limit on the total amount of fabric that can be used, or the total amount of acceptable body coverage?
Small step to take, and in the end, to make the genders fair, we probably wouldn't lose much suit. But I think it is rediculous to see people completely covered at the pool. Their swims should be all about them - not what they and their suit can accomplish.
Parents
Former Member
I am guilty of having worn technical suits including the full legs and body (no arm coverage) suit...and yeah, I have swam fast times in them without a doubt, but I was also shaved and tapered.
I only started wearing these suits when it seemed that every other person in my races/heats were wearing them as well.
I can honestly say that I don't feel as good about my swims/times when wearing a technical suit as I do when I accomplish similarly good swims in a regular old recordbreaker style suit...
I feel like suits are offering too much gains that aren't natural--we wouldn't swim some of the times we do necessarily without the suits we're wearing. While some might argue thats a problem across all sports, I don't think running shoes and the innovations in spikes and such are really as big of a deal....yes running suits that eliminate drag...I think thats a little too far as well.
I realize however that it would take a major overhaul of the entire swimming organizations in order to go back to the days of swimming in real swim suits rather than laser fused seamless body suits.
I am guilty of having worn technical suits including the full legs and body (no arm coverage) suit...and yeah, I have swam fast times in them without a doubt, but I was also shaved and tapered.
I only started wearing these suits when it seemed that every other person in my races/heats were wearing them as well.
I can honestly say that I don't feel as good about my swims/times when wearing a technical suit as I do when I accomplish similarly good swims in a regular old recordbreaker style suit...
I feel like suits are offering too much gains that aren't natural--we wouldn't swim some of the times we do necessarily without the suits we're wearing. While some might argue thats a problem across all sports, I don't think running shoes and the innovations in spikes and such are really as big of a deal....yes running suits that eliminate drag...I think thats a little too far as well.
I realize however that it would take a major overhaul of the entire swimming organizations in order to go back to the days of swimming in real swim suits rather than laser fused seamless body suits.
